Mute
by Kataang36
Summary: Moving to a new region was scary, anyone could admit to that, but not as scary as trying to explain that you're mute. Rated T just in case. The word 'mute' will be mentioned quite a bit, as a warning.
1. Chapter 1

So, I began to write again. And this kind of started.

As you all know, I'm terrible at updating stories, so I won't make any promises on when the next chapter will be up. I can say that it is started though.

* * *

Serena shouldn't have been this scared. Moving to the Kalos region with her mom and Rhyhorn and leaving everything that she knew was scary, but not as scary as explaining – or, at least, trying to explain – that she was mute. Her hometown had often teased her about it, and so had her father. The only person who ever stood up for her was her mother. For a while, Serena guessed it was because nobody else, besides Rhyhorn, did. Later on, she found out her mother did this because she didn't care whether or not Serena could talk, unlike everyone else.

Unfortunately, Serena realized on the plane to her new town, that people in the Kalos region might tease her about being mute. That small thought made her worry and prevented her from sleeping. She didn't want to go through the torture of those remarks again, it had hurt more then she had let on. She just wanted to make friends now, friends that she could rely on. Eventually, she stopped worrying about it, but as soon as she had woken up that morning, the worries came back. Today was the day she would meet the other teenagers, and she was sure that they would start teasing her as soon as they found out she was mute. And she was terrified.

"Serena, honey, there's someone at the door for you!" Her mother called, pulling her out of her thoughts. Serena was about to run downstairs, until she realized that she was still in her pajamas. Feeling her face heat up in embarrassment, she quickly changed into her clothes that she had, luckily, unpacked the night before. She tied her long, honey blonde hair into a pony tail, quickly slipped into her black top and red skirt dress, put on her black socks and shoes, and, as she was running down the stairs, placed on her pink hair and bag, resting her white framed sunglasses on her hat. Serena quickly signed a 'good morning' to her mom before opening the door. She panicked a little when she saw two people, one boy and one girl, about her age, standing outside.

The boy wore a light blue sweater with white stripes down the sleeves and grey stripes along the zipper and the edge of the sweater. He had a black messenger bag, the edge of the flap a dark blue with two half circles on it. He had blue jeans and black sneakers – similar to her own, she noted – making him look like he was going on a run or something. His straight, shoulder length hair was a dark brown, no hat or sunglasses on his head. He was fair skinned and had light brown eyes, and Serena couldn't help but wonder how often he went outside. He seemed like he was about her height, about five and a half feet tall.

The girl, however, was a different story. She wore a pink t-shirt, with three black bows on the front, a black scrunchie on her wrist, and a black bow on her white and pink bag. Her blue short-shorts had black ruffles sticking out. Serena noticed that her light brown hair had a unique style to it, one that she didn't even want to guess how long to put up in the morning. She had some pink boots – if those could even be considered boots – that matched the shade of her shirt and bag. Her eyes were a light green, her skin was the a couple shades lighter than her hair, and Serena noted how short she was compared to the boy, probably around four and a half feet tall.

"Hiya!" The girl said, a happy smile now upon her face. Serena gave an awkward smile and a small wave to the girl and boy. Even if she wasn't mute, Serena realized that she still wouldn't know what to say. She had never been great with people, her mom always told her that she was much better with Pokémon. The boy raised an eyebrow, looking unimpressed with her.

"Well, go on, say something." The boy said, Serena clenched her fists, trying her best not to react from her anger. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and immediately relaxed, knowing it was her mother.

"I should have told you both while you were waiting for my daughter. Serena's mute." Her mother explained. The boy didn't look too surprised, while the girl looked shocked for a moment, then turned to the guy.

"See, Calem? I told you it was a good idea to learn sign language this summer!" The girl said, a small smile on her face again. Serena looked at the boy, Calem, and watched his reaction.

"Yeah, you were right. I guess I owe Trevor now." He muttered. Serena looked back at the girl, who now had a small frown on her face. The girl looked at Serena, still frowning slightly.

"How are you going to communicate with Pokémon if you're mute?" The girl asked. Serena gave her a small smile, then pointed at Rhyhorn.

"_Watch this._" She signed. Serena tapped her knees twice, one softly, and the second one loudly. Rhyhorn rose, and walked over towards Serena slowly. It sat down about a foot away from her, and she climbed on to it. The Rhyhorn rose, walked around the girl and Calem once, and sat back down. Serena climbed off, and the Rhyhorn went back to its spot. "_I have to communicate differently, but it's easier than expecting Pokémon to learn sign language_." Serena signed. The girl looked amazed and Calem looked impressed.

"Wow, that's amazing! You're going to be a great trainer!" The girl exclaimed.

"Shauna's right. How long did it take you to get Rhyhorn to learn that?" Calem asked. Serena shrugged.

"_A while. I needed my mom to translate what I was trying to say for the first week or so_." She signed. Shauna, the girl, gave Serena a smile.

"I can translate for you, if you want. The only time I won't be of use is if we're battling." Shauna said.

"_Battling? Tell me you're not kidding_."

"She's completely serious. Professor Sycamore wants you to a Pokémon trainer, despite the difficulties. He believes you'll be one of the best. And after meeting you, I think he's right." Calem said. Serena looked slightly shocked, remembering the words the people in her hometown used to say.

"_Can I think about it for a bit?_" She signed. Calem and Shauna exchanged looks, and Serena wished she could tell what silent conversation they were having. Eventually, Shauna nodded at her. Serena relaxed and gave them a smile. "_Thanks._"

"If you decide to come along, we'll meet you at the gates before Route 1. We'll be going to Aquacorde town in an hour or so to meet the others there. So you've got an hour to think about it." Calem said, turning around and waving at her, walking away.

"Calem, wait up!" Shauna called out. She quickly turned back to Serena and gave her another smile. "I hope to see you soon, Serena!" She said and gave her a wave before running to catch up with Calem. Serena smiled softly.

"_I hope to see you, too, Shauna._"

* * *

Yeah, this will be fun to see if I ever get around to updating this…


	2. Chapter 2

This took me longer than I expected it to take. I thought this would be done by last Friday. Well, I guess you guys are probably going to be waiting two weeks per chapter. I hope that's okay.

* * *

"Serena, what are you going to do?" Her mother asked, making food for her. Serena shrugged, not knowing what to sign. She wanted to go with them, she really did, but after what the people in her hometown had said to her, she didn't think it would be smart for her to become a Pokémon trainer. Not only would her Pokémon not be able to understand her, but also other trainers wouldn't understand what she was doing. However, Shauna had offered to help training whatever Pokémon she would catch.

"_I don't know. I want to go, but it'll be hard to train Pokémon, even though Shauna offered to help. And I might run into people from back home._" She signed. Her mother gave Serena a stern look, and she gave her mother an awkward smile in return. "_Sorry, 'back there.'_ _It's going to take me a while to call this place home._"

"If you do come across one of them, you'll be able to show them how strong you are. If you go, you'll make new friends and you'll see the world. Going on this journey, you would mature. Honey, I respect whatever decision you make, but think over it carefully. You might regret it if you don't." Serena rolled her eyes and placed her feet on the nearest box to the couch.

"_I know, I know. I need to sit here and think about this decision. Unfortunately, I don't know what to do. If I did, this decision would be easier."_ Serena signed and then placed her head in her hands. She heard her mother walk over to her, and then she felt a hand on her back. Serena looked up at her mom, who gave her a smile.

"Eat up," she said, handing Serena a peanut butter sandwich. "You haven't even eaten breakfast yet, worry about what you'll do after you eat." Serena chuckled silently, still amazed that her mother knew her favourite food.

"_I was starting to get hungry, thanks._"

"Tell me what you'll do before the hour is up." She said, walking towards the back room, which still had quite a few boxes in it. Serena smiled and then took a bite out of her sandwich.

As Serena ate, she made a mental list of the pros and the cons of becoming a trainer. She knew it would be especially difficult, and that there would be challenges that she alone would have to face, even with whatever help that was offered. However, Serena would be able to show how much of a fighter she could be. Sure, the journey would be difficult, but what journey wasn't? It would help her mature, get stronger emotionally and physically, and would show the people back in her hometown how wrong they were.

Serena stood up, taking the last bite of her sandwich, and went back to her room. She raced up the stairs and quickly ran to her closet. She opened the door, and smiled softly when she saw the shoebox on the floor. Serena picked it up, walked over to her bed, placed the box on it, and opened it. There was a pile of photos including her, her mom, and Rhyhorn when she was a kid, a couple seashells, an old journal of hers, and her favourite fairytale book. Moving the photos and seashells aside, Serena picked up her old, leather journal and flipped to a random page. There, she saw a childish drawing – more like a pattern of scribbles, in her opinion – of hers with Rhyhorn and herself in it. Smiling fondly at it, she flipped the page and read her childish writing.

_Mommy said one day I will be a great trainer. I think it's fun playing with her Rhyhorn. It must be fun battling with Pokémon. I can't wait for when I go on a journey with my own Pokémon! _Serena read. She sighed softly, amazed at her own innocence. Had she only known back then that people would bully her about being mute. She wished that she could still have that energy about training Pokémon. Serena knew that that wouldn't be happening, unfortunately. The people in her hometown had destroyed that hope a long time ago.

Serena put the journal away, placed the box back in her closet, and sat down on her bed. If she decided to go, there would be no quitting. If she didn't go, she might regret it for the rest of her life. There seemed to be no winning in this situation. She would either regret it, or not be able to quit not matter what the scenario is.

Serena thought about what her decision would be if she wasn't mute. She wouldn't have hesitated at the offer, she would be packing her bag right now. If she wasn't mute, she'd probably have never left her hometown to come to the Kalos region. So many things would have been different if she was normal.

She stopped herself there. Serena knew that there was no such thing as normal, and that that applied to trainers as well. So, what if she was mute? People like here were common, she had gone to so many sessions where so many different people had signed their life story to an audience of mutes. Serena remembered that not one of them had signed that they had become a Pokémon trainer, they didn't even mention anything about Pokémon once. They were probably trying to let the audience know that becoming a Pokémon trainer wasn't the only job that there was, but that didn't matter at this point.

Serena had finally found a decision. She was going to be a trainer, and let other mute people like herself know that it wasn't impossible. She would defeat the Kalos region champion, Diantha, and then go back to her old home and defeat the champion there. There would be difficult times, she knew that, but that wouldn't matter. Serena would be a Pokémon trainer, and starting from that moment, nothing was going to change that.

Serena ran down the stairs, skipping every other step. She grabbed the railing post, jumped over the last stair, and spun towards the direction of her mother. Her mother turned around at the sound of her footsteps, and saw Serena smiling brightly at her.

"I take it you came to a decision?" Her mother said, giving Serena a warm smile as her daughter nodded.

"_Yes, I will be a Pokémon trainer. I don't care what the challenges are; I'll be able to overcome them. I'm not as weak as so many people think, and not as useless either._" Serena signed. Her mother smiled and hugged her quickly.

"And here I thought my determined little girl was gone for good. Let's start packing the basics, okay? We'll continue when you get back." She said. Serena laughed silently, feeling her face heat up at her mother's compliment.

"_I'm not a child anymore, mom. I can pack for myself._"

"I know, but I figured as we're still unpacking from the move, we can sort what you want to take and what you will leave here."

"_That sounds like something I wouldn't have thought of. Besides, at least if you're there, I won't pack things I won't need._"

* * *

Well, that was that chapter. I really hope I didn't bore you guys with it. Or bore you guys waiting for it…

I'll update whenever chapter 3 gets done, hopefully. See you all then.


	3. Chapter 3

After packing up the necessities for a short trip, Serena sat on the couch, barely paying attention to the TV. She could hear the obnoxious screaming of crowds, chanting a celebrity's name over and over again. She grabbed the pillow nearest her, and covered her ears, blocking out the noise. Collapsing against the couch, Serena kept the pillow over her ears and shut her eyes. God, how she hated crowds on the TV. If she had a voice and knew what it was like to be mute, she would never go and cheer for some celebrity. It just seemed like a waste of a voice to her.

"Serena, hiding from the television isn't going to make time go faster. Why don't you just wait by the gates? I'm sure that the neighbourhood kids will be there soon." Her mother said, placing a painting on the wall nearest the stairs. Serena sighed quietly, shut off the television, and picked up her purse. She walked towards the door, and gave her mother a quick smile.

"_I'll see you soon, I guess. Love you!_" Serena signed, walking out the door. Her mother chuckled softly, shaking her head.

"As soon as I suggest waiting for the other kids, she goes running off. I suppose that's a good thing, in a way." Her mother muttered, remembering her daughter's childhood. "I'm so glad she is going on this journey."

0o0o0

Serena sighed softly, leaning against the doorframe, trying her best to calm herself down. Placing her hand against her chest, she breathed out, and moved her hand shakily. She was not going to back out of this decision of hers because of some nerves. That was not her weakness.

Tentatively, Serena took a step away from the door, and begun to walk out of her yard. She passed Rhyhorn, giving it a nervous smile. Rhyhorn yawned, rolled over, and fell back asleep. Serena laughed silently at Rhyhorn's sleepiness, but continued to walk until she got to her yard's entrance. She stopped for a moment, seeing the handful of people walking around and felt her anxiety levels go up again. All of these people could easily bully her as soon as they found out about her being mute, just like back in her hometown. They could all tell her to leave, that a flawed girl like her didn't belong here.

No, she thought and shook her head getting rid of those thoughts. That was something she really didn't need at the moment, especially being as nervous as she was. All she had to do was leave her yard and her journey as a Pokémon trainer would have already begun. She just had to take a step forward, one measly step, and it would begin.

Closing her eyes tightly, she took a step outside and waited a couple moments before opening her right eye. Noticing nothing out of the ordinary, she opened her other eye and sighed quietly, relieved that she hadn't walked into anyone by accident. That would have been a great start to her journey.

Serena turned right, remembering that her house was right beside the gates from Vaniville Town to Aquacorde Town. Avoiding a few adults, she walked slowly to the gates. She did her best not to trip on the loose stones on the ground, not wanting to have scrapes on her hands and knees immediately. Her ability to trip over everything was not something she wanted the people she just met to know about just yet. Maybe once she knew that they weren't going to abandon her for someone that could talk, she would tell them how much of a klutz she was.

Noticing that the rocks were getting slightly bigger once she turned the corner to get to the blue gates, she looked up and saw Calem and Shauna sitting down on the ground, quietly talking. Smiling softly, she walked over to them and waited for them to notice her. Shauna looked up at her after a couple moments, and gave her a smile.

"Hey Serena. We've got a couple minutes to spare before we have to leave to meet the others at the Aquacorde Town. Why don't you sit down with us in the mean time?" Shauna asked, moving away from Calem so Serena could sit in between them. Serena reluctantly sat in between the two of them, waiting for them to tell her to move. The two were quiet once she sat down, making Serena feel awkward.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, Serena, but in what region were you born in? You don't seem like you're from Sinnoh or Unova, but I could be wrong." Calem said, avoiding eye contact with the girls. Serena smiled at Calem, glad that he didn't ask about her father or why she moved here.

"_You're right, Calem. I'm not from Sinnoh or Unova. I come from Hoenn._" Serena signed, slowly relaxing. Shauna nodded, fiddling with her bag's strap.

"That makes sense. What's it like there?" Shauna asked.

"_I grew up in Mauville City and Lavaridge Town, so I can't really say anything about the rest of the region. I just know that summers are really hot, and that I've never seen snow before._" Serena signed, smiling grimly. Calem noticed Serena's expression, and looked over at her.

"Not a great childhood, I presume? You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. I just have one more question, if that's okay."

"_Go ahead, ask. If I don't respond, you should realize that I'm not going to talk about it._" Serena signed. Shauna, still fiddling with her bag's strap, sat silently, not daring to say a word incase it offended Serena.

"Why did you grow up in two places?" He asked, avoiding the look Shauna gave him as he asked it. For someone who always looked happy, she gave a great warning look.

"_I went to Lavaridge Town regularly for a doctor that lived there, as my father had hoped that there was some magical cure to my muteness. The doctor told him over and over again that there was no fixing me and he just had to accept it. Eventually, he stopped taking me and my mom would take me every now and then to go see the Rhyhorn races she would participate in. Mauville City was where I was born, sadly. In all honesty, I would rather have been born here._" Serena signed reluctantly. Mauville City was not a place she would visit if her life depended on it. Calem didn't ask any more questions, probably realizing that Serena wasn't going to tell him anything more until after she trusted him.

Shauna got up quickly, wiping dirt off of her shorts. She put her hand in front of Serena, silently offering her help getting up. Serena gave Shauna a small smile, and placed her hand on top of hers. Shauna helped Serena up, and then helped Calem up as Serena brushed off the dirt.

"So, what do you say? Want to start our adventure together, or do you want to meet us in Aquacorde Town?" Shauna asked, waiting patiently as Calem brushed off some of the dirt as well. Serena bit her lip nervously, trying to figure out what to sign to them.

"_If it's okay with you guys, I'll meet you there. I know that there's not much scenery on the way there, but I still want to walk slowly and see what there is. I didn't get much of a chance when we arrived here to even look at a map, never mind see the types of flowers and trees._" Serena signed, hoping that they wouldn't take offense. Luckily, Calem nodded and Shauna gave her another smile.

"Yeah, it's alright. We have to meet the others there too, so we'll choose a table and meet you there. Since it'll be at a coffee shop, would you like us to get you anything?" Shauna asked. Serena thought about it, knowing that she had never had tea or coffee before in her life, and slightly curious about it.

"_Could you get me hot chocolate, if they have any, with some cinnamon on top, please?_" She signed, feeling nervous as she did. Serena didn't want to intrude on them more than she already had.

"Sure. We'll see you in a bit!" Shauna said, waving goodbye at Serena as she opened the blue gates to Route 1. Serena waved goodbye to the two of them as well, and waited until the gates shut again before she moved.

Once the gates had closed, she breathed out, getting rid of any nerves and regrets of this decision. Slowly, Serena stepped forward, extended her arms, and opened the gates. At that moment, she knew that there was no turning back. She was going to be a trainer, with whatever challenges she faced.

And nothing was going to change her mind about that.

* * *

Here I am, with a late chapter, like usual. I honestly got this done at the last possible moment because of my brilliant procrastination. I will try to upload the next chapter a little earlier next time!

To all the people who reviewed, thanks! I have changed the heights of Shauna, Serena, and Calem and added a slight warning in the summary, but until I get better with titles, it's going to stay as it is. Anyway, see you guys in a week or two!


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